Kouga's Unlikely Slave (begins)
by tigeraangel
Summary: A re (co-written) version of the original story. Kouga purchases a new slave and gets more then he expected (or bargained) for.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey everyone it's me Tigeraangel. I looked at my reviews at my old story of "Kouga's Unlikely Slave" and it seems like it was a very rough first draft. It made me think that I need to re-write my work. So, this is the same plot, but I made it so much better thanks to my "co-writer", also my partner. My thoughts and his greatness of putting it all into a great story makes a better story. Here are the first two chapters of the old story rewritten. I hope you enjoy and we will be adding more later love Tigeraangel_**

**_Chapter 1_**

_It's raining again_, Kagome thought, gritting her teeth. _Climbing out of this stupid pit is hard enough without the rain_. She persevered, climbing rung after rung out of the streaming well. _My school suit will be ruined. AGAIN. _She really shouldn't be worried about this climb. She has done it dozens of times. The chaos of the jewel shards were _years_ behind her. Well… two to be exact. She had become rebellious in her later years. Well, later teenage years. Neon streaks now wound their way through her hair. Her school uniform was only from convenience. On her outings with her friends, mesh was the more popular fashion.

All of her time had not been spent in vain though. She had focused her thoughts. Her powers now came naturally to her. What took minutes of concentration now took an idle thought. Her training also had not gone to waste. People in the modern world thought she was entertaining a hobby. Sword training had become a plaything in the modern age. If they had known how many demons she had (in terror) slain, they would understand the earnest nature of her training. Hesitating or slipping with a sword in the modern world earned you a bruise. Hesitating with a sword in this age means death.

_Finally,_ she thought (and muttered) as she crested the well. She was ecstatic though. She had abandoned her studies, failed miserably at school, and her prospects in the modern world weren't… fantastic. Technically she was still going to school. It wasn't a prestigious one, any prospect of being a master scholar were long gone. It didn't matter anymore. She was with her friends. She was with her _family_.

There were still objects of power to find of course. The jewel shards were all found. The idea though, that there was only _one_ artefact, was ridiculous. As if there was only one powerful artefact in the entire world. Where there was power, there was corruption, and power in this world seemed limitless. Objects that once held a holy grace were being defiled in demonic hands. It still happened. It was a wonder that the feudal era ever evolved into our magic-less world.

_In some ways it is tragic_, Kagome thought. _Although in many ways, it is SO much better_. She had never been attacked by a flying demonic pterodactyl waiting for the bus. _I shouldn't get so wrapped up in thoughts_, Kagome thought, as her thoughts distracted her from the men about to bludgeon her over the head. A confused _what_, followed a flash of light, and darkness.

Kagome woke up in a blurred darkness, and immediately felt like throwing up. _They never mention this about unconsciousness_. The nausea was overwhelming. Lights whirled around her in a sickening fashion. _Can I go once without having to be rescued? _Kagome thought, shuddering. Then she noticed her clothes. _What happened to my clothes?_ She was dressed in rags. In a detached fashion, she was happy. Why would they undress her, only to change her clothes? Did her clothes have a certain value? It, at least, suggested that they were willing to give her some modesty. People who gave her modesty are not usually willing to do anything worse.

She heard a hoarse coughing behind her. She looked behind her and started dry heaving instead. All she could think about is how bad an idea it was to move her head. She groaned and rolled away from the source of the coughing. She only managed to move her head into a position to see the person. What she took for coughing was an extremely dry laughter.

"It took you a while to wake. We were worried we had killed you". _Well that's a lovely thought._ Kagome wondered idly if death wasn't better than the world constantly spinning. Not seriously of course, she had been in this situation several times. _Too many times_. "Slavery will suit you", the grinning figure said. Kagome coughed weakly. "Until I get rescued at least." Kagome immediately regretted her words. For one, she was tired of being constantly in a position to be rescued. For another, she received a large leather boot to the head. Her world exploded in pain.

"First lesson to be learned, don't talk back. We try not to kill our slaves, but it is no large loss if we do". He leaned in and leered. "Besides, beauties like you are useful for _so_ much". He leaned in and ripped off Kagome's shirt. "The first thing you will learn, clothes are a _luxury_. There is only one scrap of clothing you will always wear". He shuffled out of Kagome's sight, and rustling was heard in the background. Before Kagome could react, a rough leather clasp was wrapped around her throat. "This is your collar. It is to remind you that you are an _animal_. You are only here to please us. If you please us well, you can live as a favoured dog does. If you do not please us, you will be kicked like a dog. Pain will become your master. If you do well enough, you can enjoy pleasuring your master. If not, agony will be your only friend. You will _wish_ for death."

The world spun as the man dragged her, by her new collar, to the wall. She scraped herself in several places. She was too disoriented to even cover her exposed breasts. She felt the steel links chained to her collar, and heard the coughing laughter as he trudged away. She felt nausea, fear and pain. She had never been treated this way before. Nobody was there to see her tears tear paths through the dirt on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter II  
_**

Kagome got used to gruel. It was the highlight of her day. They watered her. They exercised her. "Don't want you to look too skinny", they said. It was not a phrase said to a person, it was a phrase they would use for a favoured pet. Her weight, food and disposition were monitored. Not in a clinical fashion, bandits don't care about a balanced diet. They do, however, care very much about their investment.

She had been locked there for months. Several months. There was one saving face for her treatment. During her dazed mumbles, she mentioned that she was "untouched". They, thankfully, took it to mean she was a virgin. Apparently virgins are worth _much_ more on the slave market. Also because of that, she was protected after fashion. A luxury not afforded to some of the other slaves. She could hear them from her enclosure. Not a cage, a cage is afforded only to prisoners. The enclosure was her kennel.

She could hear the other women. For some of the newer arrivals, you could hear their hysterical screams. Sometimes it rose to a fever pitch when a man entered them. It was horrifying, especially knowing that many of them were held down by their collars. Face down based on the muffles. What was even more terrifying were the kennels on the right of her. She could hear the females (not women, as the bandits forcefully reiterated). On the left side, it was horror, humiliation and disbelief. On the right side, it was pleasure. The pleasure of someone who is just happy to please their master. The pleasure of an inferior animal being graced by the favour of their superior. This place does not sell slaves, it also trains them. Kagome felt sick just thinking of the process.

It didn't mean she was not harassed though. The third night from when she was captured, she was approached. No, approached was the wrong word. She was _assaulted_. A man too heavy into his drinks stumbled into Kagome's room. She still felt faintly nauseous from her blow (_blows_) to the head. He might have thought he was in the neighbouring kennels, full of women who are free game for any bandit who would like to enter. Kagome expected him to come and provide some food. He instead leaned down and grabbed Kagome by her hair. She could _feel_ his stained breath on her face.

Kagome struggled and shrieked, but it was lost in the din of the surrounding kennels. He held her hair back and dragged her hips into a four-legged position. He leaned in behind her. "Squeal, bitch," he slurred into her ear. She could feel his member scraping the side of her thigh.

Maybe he expected one of the women who were pacified. What he did not expect was the heel that Kagome drove into his undercarriage. The shriek that he let go was just as high pitched as the slaves from the leftmost kennels. It, like Kagome's shriek, was lost in the din. He stumbled back, clutching his package. He threw up in the corner of the enclosure. Whether from the alcohol, or the retaliation, Kagome did not know. Probably a combination of both.

He spent several minutes recovering. Kagome shrieked for help, but nobody could hear her. She could not reach the man, and she could not escape. She was trapped, and waiting for the inevitable retribution. The man started gaining his senses, slowly regaining his feet. He sighted Kagome. Kagome could see murder in his eyes. He no longer cared about being satisfied, even if he was capable. All he wanted to see was a dead woman. A knife glittered in his left hand as he advanced. Kagome could see his face, distorted into madness by the torchlight from his left.

The torchlight coming from the patrolling guard. _Oh god, there's two of them_ Kagome thought. To her surprise though, the guard swung the torch – directly into the bandit's temple. His hair catches alight and he starts screaming in agony. The guard, exasperatedly, shoves his head into Kagome's watering bucket. A sharp hiss is heard, and the bandit tries to raise his head out of the bucket. A firm hand from the guard holds him in the water instead. The bandit starts flailing about and strikes the wall, bruising his hand. This goes on for half a minute, and finally the guard raises his head.

The bandit starts gasping for air. He is no longer glaring for murder, he is shocked from his near drowning experience. The guard leaves the bandit coughing on the ground for a good thirty seconds. The guard finally raises the bandit's sodden head off the ground. "The leader says this one is of limits", he growls into the bandit's ear. He drags the bandit by his head back outside of the enclosure.

_Three months ago_. Had it been three months? The scratchings she had made on the wall said it has been. The scratchings are hidden behind the watering bucket. If the guards saw it, she would surely be punished. She didn't even know if they were accurate, she could not tell night and day around here.

She was about to place the watering bucket in front of her scratchings when the guard walked in. Kagome panicked. She did not know what to do, her writings were in plain sight. There was nothing incriminating, but the writing itself was enough. She involuntarily cringed, thinking of the beating (nothing permanent, don't want to hurt the product). The guard glanced at her writings, and grunted. "You are lucky dog, I would have beaten you for that". The chain links were unlocked from the wall. The guard noticed her shock and anticipation. "Don't get excited. Clients have arrived. It is time to earn your keep, dog".


	3. Chapter 3

The guard led her by the hair out into the blinding light. The light stung her eyes and she walked to the outdoor kennel nearly blind. It took a while for Kagome's eyes to adjust, having nothing but a single torch for company over three months. She was in a kennel surrounded by dozens of women. Most had a vacant or enraptured look to them.

Kagome nudged the naked women next to her. "Why are we here?" She did not expect the elbow to her midriff, which put her on her knees. "Dog's do not talk". She looked around for who said it, and realized it came from the woman she had just nudged. She could not believe that she was cut off – and _hit_ – by a person who (if anything) was younger then _she_ was.

Despair welled up; how could these women be so slavishly devoted to the people who treated them so horribly? That despair quickly was drowned out by an indignant anger. How _dare_ she. All Kagome wanted was to talk to someone! She wound back her arm for her retaliation, and suddenly lurched back against the side of the cage. A guard had caught her arm through the bars.

Kagome was terrified. She was trapped by the guard. The guard merely laughed. "Come on now, we have a hard enough time stopping us from damaging the merchandise. Can't have the merchandise damaging _each other_". He let go, and Kagome sprawled on the ground. Nobody caught her, most looked terrified that she had even spoke up at all. "Any other time you would pay for that. The spectators enjoy it though, I will let it go this time".

Kagome looked behind her, and saw a crowd of people watching in the daylight. People might have been the wrong word. Many had too many arms, or too many eyes, or appendages appearing from where they shouldn't. A couple towered over the crowd, twice as large then even the tallest human. This was not a human crowd.

Kagome was mortified. She had spent her time in the kennels naked more often than not, and had after a fashion gotten used to it. To be seen though, to be _ogled by_ this crowd, was more then she could bear. She turned beet red and tried to cover herself. The guard laughed even harder. "Would you look at that, she turns red _everywhere_."

In the three months she was held captive, she managed to keep her composure. She cried only when the guards could not see it. She kept silent and only gave ground when the alternative meant beatings, or torture or death. This though, this was too much. To be so casually perused by hundreds of monstrosities, to be visually weighed up as if she was a sack of grain. Many of them didn't even seem to notice she was a woman. Then again, many of them obviously did.

Kagome started sniffling, and finally started crying in the middle of the cage. The guard seemed to enjoy it. "People pay more for the innocent type, you know". He leaned in. "That is what we are selling you as, by the way. If you think you will get out of this as anything less than a sex slave, you have another thing coming. People don't buy virgins for their character. They buy them because they love to see innocence, and _crush it_. He chuckled to himself.

"You actually thought you were being treated nicely for these three months." Kagome thought nothing of the type. She knew how much worse some of the others had it though. "We didn't protect you for your sake, we protected you because you fetch a higher price. Virgins are worth double on the market. _Triple_ if we are lucky. We don't care what happens to you afterwards, but I can say right now, a virgin's life isn't pretty."

"If you are lucky, you will be part of a harem. If you are unlucky, you will be a sacrifice. If you are very unlucky, you will be used until you only _live_ to be used, _then_ sacrificed. You will beg to be fucked, and when you think you can finally come to terms with your miserable life, you will be thrown onto an altar and bled dry so a demon can get marginally more power." Kagome's tears dried up. Her anger at the women around her kindled into an inferno of rage at this guard. She promised to herself, she would see this man brought to justice. _No_. He deserved more then justice. She would see this man dead.

The guard looked disappointed at her reaction. He expected her to be broken. He did not expect her to glare daggers into him. "Don't blame me, princess, I'm just doing my job. Well, you can blame me a little, I _love_ this job. My own quarters, all the women and drink I want, and plenty of money to spend on whatever I like." He smirked at Kagome. "Do you know what I did before my village was destroyed and I moved to slavery?" He paused for Kagome to ask what. Kagome did not say a word. The guard continued anyway.

"I was on a ranch. I used to break wild horses to be sold. I enjoyed the work. I enjoyed working with horses, though I hated the dumb beasts. I loved taking a horse that kicked at everyone who came close to it, and breaking it for anyone to have a ride. It amazed me how similar my slaving job is. I don't enjoy bringing pain to you. I _do_ enjoy breaking you." His grin turned sinister. "And the riding is _so_ much more fun".

A bell rang out in the courtyard. The gathered crowd stopped their chatting (or growling in some circumstances) and turned to the stage erected to the side of the kennel. The lead bandit took the stage. Kagome gasped. The lead bandit was a _woman_. Kagome could not believe it. How could a woman do such monstrous things to her captors? Kagome looked at the guard, and saw fear in his eyes. Not of Kagome, of the woman on the stage. Kagome had her answer. She could do what those monstrous things, because she was a worse monster then any bandit in the camp.

Some of the demons chuffed and laughed at the audacity of this woman to take the stage in front of them. Some of them. Some of the others, who had been here before, knew better. The others knew better shortly afterwards. A laughing ogre in the front of the crowd was cut short when an unnaturally sharp whip sheared his leg off. With the exception of the ogre's screams, the crowd turned dead silent.

"For those of you who have not been here before, understand that my auctions are civil. You will get a view of each of the slaves, name your bids, and whoever wins gets the slave. Once the slave leaves my sight, she is yours to do what you like with. I will not tolerate violence, I will not tolerate fights. I _especially _will not tolerate anyone disrespecting me. Understood?" The ogre was still screaming about his leg. The woman stepped off the stage, and laid her whip on top of the ogre's loincloth. The ogre quickly stifled his screams into small whimpers. "Excellent." The woman stepped back onto the stage. "Well, we aren't here for a fight, we are here for an auction! Let's start with our most valuable commodity. Bring up the untouched slaves, please." The guard next to Kagome hadn't lost his smirk. "That's you, kitten".


	4. Chapter 4

Being tugged by the leash, Kagome was led up to the stage set up for the auction. The bandit leader looked around expectantly, barely even glancing at Kagome. _Well that's just rude_, Kagome thought, inwardly sneering.

"Where are the others?"

The guard wilted. "Sorry Akiko, we had some... discipline problems with the trainers. It has been taken care of."

The bandit leader – _Akiko apparently, _Kagome thought – seemed to consider this for a moment. Her gaze turned arctic. Much to Kagome's delight, the guard wilted under the glare. She was surprised that there wasn't frost forming in the air. Akiko bit off a sentence, word by word. "I expect a head in front of my room tomorrow. If it isn't one of your subordinates, it will be yours." The guard stumbled back off the platform, repeatedly mumbling "yes maam".

Just like that, Akiko's gaze returned to normal. Normal being several degrees below anything resembling human warmth. She looked Kagome up and down, as someone would a piece of meat. Kagome's face slowly turned various degrees of red. "Hey-" Kagome started. She was immediately interrupted when Akiko grabbed Kagome by the nose and leaned in close. "Apparently they aren't training you well enough down there" Akiko hissed. "Listen closely. You will be quiet, and you will display your wares for any customer down there who wants to see it. If you are lucky, _very_ lucky, you might get a master who treats you like a favoured dog. I can guarantee that if you don't sell today, you will be kept here for anyone who wants to use you. The only thing keeping you _remotely_ in one piece is your value. And don't you _dare_ cry, you are such an ugly cry-er. Do not take your value away."

She spun around and started her pitch to the crowd, as though nothing had occurred. "What we have here, customers, is a rare commodity. An untouched virgin. A tough find these days." That got a couple chuckles from the crowd. "Good backside-" Akiko hurriedly gestured for Kagome to do a twirl, which she shamefully did. "Nice figure, good for any rituals you like, or for personal use if you prefer. Young, but not too young." The still howling ogre undercut her pitch, and she gestured to another guard to drag the ogre away. "Bidding starts at two mid-strength artifacts."

_Artifacts?_ Kagome had no idea what that meant. A particularly sweaty frog-demon at the front piped up "A strength band and a partial invisibility ring". _Oh, of course_. These were demons, they didn't use currency. The only items of value were items of power. There was a complete silence beyond that, and Kagome's stomach dropped. _Oh no, not a frog demon_. Suddenly though, the crowd joined in and bids started flowing.

"Three power bands." "A single ring of complete invisibility." "A short-range teleport wand." Kagome was bewildered. How could anyone keep track of the value of these bids, and which bids were worth more then the others? Akiko seemed to be keeping a mental tally though. Clearly, she had a good idea of the value of these items. Kagome couldn't keep up, this just felt too surreal. She felt numb, as if this was happening to someone else. She could see a different life for her from every bid. Sacrificial ritual. Part of a harem. Beaten daily for amusement. Personal sex slave. She did not see a single good future for her.

To a certain extent, part of her still believed she would be rescued. Even after three months, even after being imprisoned without daylight for an eternity, she still secretly thought someone would come for her. She had been saved _so_ many times after all. On the odd occasion, she even saved herself. Reality was crashing down on her now. Nobody even knew she was here. She was about to be towed away to a new hell in moments. She felt like she was about to faint.

A new voice pierced through all the bidding. "A jewel shard". Kagome's heart stopped. _It's not possible_. The jewel was gone. It had taken _years_ to make that happen, it was not possible that someone still had a shard. It cannot happen. It _couldn't_. The crowd turned silent, ominously silent. The jewel shards were so powerful, this crowd full of demons could quickly turn into a bloodbath over that shard. Kagome could not see who made the bid, the voice had come from the back of the crowd.

This took even Akiko back. She blinked in surprise, her first human emotion yet. _Probably the only emotion that bitch has_, Kagome thought spitefully. "Really?" Akiko said. "For _her?_", earning another baleful glare from Kagome. "There hasn't been a jewel shard in over three years. I need to verify this. Up here please". A purple shard glimmered through the air, and Akiko caught it deftly. Kagome, despite an overwhelming loathing for Akiko, grudgingly admired that move. She must have a reputation for professionalism for _anybody _to trust her with a shard, let alone a demon. With the shard in her control, the crowd calmed down a bit. All eyes were trained on that purple glimmer, even Kagome's.

She pulled out a cage, with what looked like a beetle. On closer inspection, Kagome saw the beetle had _dozens_ of claws sprouting out of its back and sides. A small demon then. A _very_ small demon. With little thought, Akiko shoved the shard into the beetles back, splitting the carapace. The shard was almost as large as the beetle itself.

For ten seconds, nothing happened. The crowd was dead silent. A small whistling of the wind could be heard in the background. Then, the beetle started growing. It quickly tripled in size, breaking the cage. Quadrupled in size. Kagome wasn't sure the beetle would stop growing. The beetle suddenly was cut in two by Akiko's whip, the jewel shard clattering to the floor. She picked up the shard, smiling.

"One virgin slave sold, for a jewel shard. Congratulations, come up and claim your new plaything".


	5. Chapter 5

Kagome is led off the stage by the previous guard, and down to an empty room to the side of the stage. "Pucker up," the guard says, "some of the owners like to test drive their new slaves before they go." He says it in a distracted tone of voice, as if he was saying it simply from rote. He must be thinking about which of his employees he'll have to kill.

The guard leaves, and Kagome can hear some muffled conversation with someone on the other side of the door. Kagome lays her head against the wall, and stares at the ceiling. She knows she should be trying to escape, but how? The guard is between her and her escape, and then what? She would have to go through that bitch Akiko, a whole crowd of demons, and she still had no idea where she was. How could one naked slave, weak from months of captivity, ever hope to beat those odds?

"If you keep looking up at the ceiling like that, you're going to even make me depressed."

_What? Wait, I know that voice._ Kagome looks down at the speaker. _Well that's it. I've gone crazy._

"… Ginta?"

Ginta grins back, as if the whole situation is just a fun game.

"Ginta!"

Kagome flings herself into Ginta's arms and hugs him tightly. Ginta awkwardly hugs back.

"Keep your voice down! We aren't out of the woods yet."

Kagome nods, still hugging Ginta.

"Umm… Kagome… this hug is a bit uncomfortable for me." Ginta coughs, reddening. Kagome then realizes that she is still completely naked. She yelps and stumbles back against the wall, trying in vain to cover herself with her hands. Ginta bursts out laughing, and Kagome finally stops dancing around. Finally, she adopts as modest a pose as she can, as if she is wearing an imaginary ball gown.

Ginta looks around and says to Kagome, "we have to get out of here now. Give me your leash, and I'll get you through the crowd. We have to go before they realize the shard I gave them is a fake."

Kagome stares back at Ginta. "But… I saw it work. I saw what the beetle demon did."

Ginta started grinning again. "If that beetle had been around for longer than a minute, you would have seen it shrink back and start throwing up. If beetles _can_ throw up that is. Even getting a shard replica to do that much took us over 6 months of shaking down local hedge doctors."

Ginta looked around again. "Now, we really, _really_ need to go. Give me your leash".

So close to freedom, Kagome's leash felt like it was burning her. _Just a little bit longer_. She handed the other end of her leash to Ginta, and they trudged past the guard, a little further outside the room. The guard grinned knowingly at Kagome. Kagome sincerely wanted to punch him in the face, but instead settled for the coldest glare she could imagine. Hopefully the guard simply thought she was angry at whatever Ginta did to her.

_Almost there_. Kagome and Ginta walked to the side of the stage, and started down the steps.

"STOP!" yelled Akiko. Ginta froze, not sure whether to try fighting or bluffing his way out. Sweat beaded on Kagome, and by Ginta's shaking, he wasn't in much better shape. Akiko jumped off the stage and grabbed Ginta.

"Before you go, you should know that this one isn't trained to our… usual standards. Being a virgin, we couldn't break her as we normally would." She glanced at Kagome, and back to Ginta. "I can see a bit of will left in her eyes. She will probably try to kill you. I would hate to lose a paying customer to my merchandise. Especially to a virgin." She glanced at Kagome again. "Well, if she still is a virgin now."

Ginta swallowed, and tried to put on a menacing face. "She-" His voice squeaked and he stopped. _Not a great start at bluffing_, Kagome thought. Ginta cleared his throat and started again, with a far more convincing growl. "She will learn her place very quickly, or she won't be in any shape to fight back. I can handle my slaves just fine. Thanks for the warning, but don't ever imply I am weak enough to get bested by this trash, let alone a naked slave girl." He looked around, gesturing to the demons surrounding him.

_Too far, too far!_ Kagome thought frantically. The demons surrounding them started giving Ginta dark looks. Ginta saw them too, and started backing up. _Don't do that, they'll think you're running away!_ Akiko grabbed her whip and cracked it in the air, which got everybody's attention. "Don't make me cut off any more legs. If you want to start a fight, you can start it somewhere else". She glared at Ginta. "Thanks for the shard. Now get out."

Ginta didn't need any more convincing, and practically jogged himself and Kagome out of the crowd. Shortly they were on a path, and alone in the woods. For the first time, in what seemed like months, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. The bushes directly next to her rustled, and Kagome let out a scream that caused Ginta to trip over. Kagome leaped over Ginta and put him between her and the bush.

Hakkaku stumbled out of the bushes and kneeled next to Ginta. "By the gods, Kagome, you gave me a heart attack!"

"I gave _you_ a heart attack! Do you always sneak up behind women?"

"I have no idea how to react to women, Koga's always been the womanizer. Every time I see you, you're screaming or Inuyasha is yelling or Koga is yelling, do any of you ever just talk to eachother?"

Kagome blushed, and helped Hakkaku get Ginta to his feet. "I'm sorry, I have had a rough couple of months. It'll take a while before I stop being scared of my own shadow."

Both Ginta and Hakkaku avoid looking at Kagome, and both of them seem far redder then they had any right to be. _Oh, right. Naked._ "Well if you want to know how to treat a woman right, you can start by getting her some clothes."

Ginta looks around. "What clothes?"

"How about _your_ clothes".

"And what, you expect me to go around in my underclothes?"

"What, you expect _me_ to walk all the way naked?"

Ginta grimaced, but started handing over his furs to Kagome, and released her collar with a quick swipe of his knife. Kagome breathes a sigh of relief.

Kagome wrinkled her nose, putting on the furs. "Ugh, these furs stink."

"Oh and you smell like a bunch of roses, after being held captive for god knows how long? You try dealing with smells when you have the nose of a wolf."

"That reminds me," Kagome replies, "I expect a bath when we get to where we are going. A hot one. With soap."

Ginta looks as though he wants to march right back and hand Kagome back to Akiko. Ginta hangs his head and gives up.

"Yes sis."

"Where are we going anyway?"

"Where else! Koga has been missing you for months now, imagine the surprise when we bring you to him!"

Kagome looked at Ginta and Hakkaku suspiciously.

"Speaking of which, why were the two of you at a slave auction?"

Hakkaku glanced and Ginta, and start talking. "Well, Koga's been really lonely, and taking it out on us. We thought that if we found a nice gir—." Ginta slams his fist into Hakkaku's stomach, and he cuts off with a coughing fit. "We were looking for you," Ginta says innocently. Kagome glares at Ginta suspiciously, and Ginta just stares back blandly. _He's gotten better at bluffing very quickly_. "Well, are you going to sit there staring at me, or are we going to see Koga?" Without another word, Kagome starts on the path ahead of Ginta and Hakkaku. They glance at eachother, sigh in unison, and start following Kagome.


	6. Chapter 6

After a day of walking, they passed a nearby town. Ginta kept walking, but Kagome immediately turned down the path towards the town.

Ginta grimaced. "Where are _you_ going, we have a couple of days ahead before we get back to Koga!"

Kagome rounded on Ginta. "You really expect me to show up in front of Koga smelling like _this_, wearing _these_" – gesturing to Ginta's furs - "And having god knows _what_ in my hair?"

"Uh, I like those furs sis, they work for me pretty well."

"Well of course they work for _you_ pretty well."

That got Ginta's hackles to rise. "Oh, I see, I can wear whatever I want because it doesn't matter. I'm just some slob wolf demon. Why don't you show up to Koga wearing what we found you in, I bet _he _would enjoy that more."

Hakkaku sidled up to Ginta and whispered in his ear, "Oh gods, you really did it now. Why would you say that?" Hakkaku quickly dove into a nearby bush to avoid crossfire from Kagome's wrath, and Ginta prepared for his imminent death by putting his back up against a tree.

To both Hakkaku's and Ginta's surprise, Kagome sighed, with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry Ginta, I didn't mean to say anything bad about you, especially after you saved me. You are a lovely wolf demon. I bet you strike fear into demons two villages over."

Ginta just looked thunderstruck. "Some say three villages over", he mumbled, mollified. Hakkaku snickered from the nearby bush. "Let's go get you a kimono and find a place to stay the night, I could use a" – Ginta shuddered – "a _bath,_ myself."

Kagome strode into town, Ginta and Hakkaku at her heels. She stopped by a sign, and hailed a nearby older woman carrying a basket of cabbages.

"Excuse me ma'am, could you tell me where the nearest inn—" That was as far as she got, before the woman screamed at the top of her lungs. "DEMON!" She wailed, throwing her basket of cabbages at Kagome, and sprinting the other direction like a woman half her age.

"Well, that wasn't a good start," Hakkaku muttered. He helped Kagome to her feet, grabbing a cabbage in his other hand. He took a bite out of it and grimaced. "Tastes like dirt. How do humans eat this stuff?"

Kagome stared after the woman. "What was _that_ about? I'm not a demon." Hakkaku tapped Kagome behind her. "Yes, but we are, and you aren't exactly wearing normal human clothes." Kagome sighed. "Well, I _am_ getting that bath. Follow me."

She strode up to what looked like the women's public bath, only to be surrounded by a dozen men wielding spears. A priestess strode to the front "Back, demon woman, you are not welcome here! Proceed at her own peril." Kagome took another step forward, and the priestess threw a set of prayer beads at her. "Back, demon, and be banished!"

The beads briefly glowed, and otherwise did nothing. Dead silence filled the area. One of the men holding spears panicked. "Oh gods, she's too powerful, run away!" He threw his spear to the side and sprinted in the other direction. The other villagers looked decidedly more nervous.

Kagome rolled her eyes, and glanced at the priestess. "Do you know any other blessings?" Kagome asked. The priestess gulped and tried to bluff. "I know a hundred ways to banish demons, you haven't seen a fraction of my power yet!" Kagome stared at her blandly. "How about I show you one then." Kagome said, clearly not impressed.

She recited an incantation that Kaede taught her, to ward a building against demon intrusions. The public bath glowed a brilliant shade of indigo, which quickly faded. The priestess clearly could feel the power radiating from the building. _If only the people who caught me were demons, everything would have gone so much better_. The priestess glared at the building. "That is a ward against demons. Why would you put up a ward against your own kind?" Kagome rolled her eyes again. She knocked aside a spear, which clattered to the ground as the villager holding it stumbled back. She then strolled into the bath.

The crowd was silent. Kagome could almost hear the gears churning in the priestess's mind. Finally, she managed to add two and two, and gasped. "You're not a demon at all, you are a priestess!" Kagome, despite wanting to yell in exasperation, nodded. "Now, I am very dirty, tired, and need a bath. Please bring me a towel and a proper dress." Ginta and Hakkaku made panicked glances around at the crowd still brandishing spears at them. "Oh, and those two are under my protection. Please get some accommodation for them."

Kagome was led into the bathhouse by the cabbage woman, who apologized to her every step of the way. Inwardly she was grinning, she hadn't had this much fun in a while. Up until she saw the steaming private bath laid out for her, and fell in love. She immediately disrobed and eased herself into in the bath. Words could not describe the sense of relaxation she felt, after three months of dirt and imprisonment. She let herself slide under the water, sighing "heaven" as she went.

The priestess came in to the bath after letting Kagome have some privacy, bringing her best kimono with her as she went. "This might be a bit loose in the hips, but it should fit you" she said, laying it down next to the bath. "If you stay for a while longer, I can have some tailored to fit you." Kagome was tempted, but she didn't think Ginta or Hakkaku could stand staying in one place around humans for that long. "I can't stay that long, but I appreciate the hospitality. I can't pay, but I will be happy to teach you that ward in return." The priestess was ecstatic. "That would be lovely, thank you so much!"

The next day, Hakkaku, Ginta and a much more refreshed Kagome left to return to Koga. Ginta seemed happy to be wearing his furs again, but had a strange smell around him. Kagome sniffed. "What smells like lavender and wet dog?"

Hakkaku fell over laughing at Ginta. Ginta growled at Hakkaku and answered Kagome. "Why do you think I don't have baths, this is awful! It will take me weeks to cultivate my natural smell again." Kagome had serious doubts about any kind of smell that has to 'cultivate', but let it slide.

The next two days passed without event, as they slowly ascended the nearby mountain. Lush forest quickly gave way to rocky slopes and sparse trees. Several mountain goats passed by, and both Ginta and Hakkaku stared at them hungrily. Kagome caught them as they were about to go leaping off. "See here, the village gave us plenty of jerky and grain for the trip. We don't need fresh goat." Hakkaku sighed. "I still have that taste of cabbage in my mouth, I _need_ fresh meat."

"Well you can wait, it looks like we are almost there," Kagome said.

Ginta grinned at Kagome. "Not almost" he said, pointing to a cave recessed into the mountain. He and Hakkaku bounded into the cave, leaving Kagome alone on the hillside. She stared at the inky black cave in front of her, and gulped. Steeling herself, she followed Ginta and Hakkaku into the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Sorry about the delay between chapters, we have been busy moving in the past month. Without any more wait, here is Chapter 7!**_

It took Kagome several minutes to adjust to the dim light within the cave. All she could see was a dim tunnel stretching off into the distance, illuminated here and there with a glaring torch. She did not see any sign of Ginta or Hakkaku.

For a second, she was too terrified to go any further. Her vision blurred, and she saw the dull light of a slavers cave ahead of her. She thought that she could hear the cries of slaves and the crack of whips. The ground grew shaky beneath her and Kagome leaned against the wall of the cave, hyperventilating in short gasps. She braced herself for the clamp of a fresh collar around her neck.

Nothing happened. No guards came to beat her or humiliate her, the sounds she heard earlier being an easy murmur of conversation in the distance. The crack of whips was the sound of water falling from a great distance.

She calmed herself as best she could, and straightened. Only a slight tremor betrayed how close she was to sheer panic. She quickly looked around in a bout of self-consciousness to make sure no one saw her in such a vulnerable state. With nobody around in sight, she made her way into the cave.

She rounded a corner after several minutes of walking, and what she saw stopped her in her tracks. The cave opened up into an enormous atrium, dotted with starlight streaming from the roof. A waterfall gave a peaceful ambiance to the place, splashing in a torrent down the far side of the cavern. A second glance showed the starlight was a myriad of glowing crystals from the cavern roof, glowing in a bright violet light.

Dozens of huts dotted the walls and pathways inside the cavern, showing a large gathering of demons. This appeared to be a bazaar, where vendors were selling all kinds of food, entertainment and (most likely fake) artifacts. Most of the demons were clearly from the wolf clan, in far larger numbers then Kagome ever suspected they had. There were also a gathering of other animal affiliated species. There were several fox demons selling manufactured prank gadgets. There were even a couple brooding bear demons browsing stealth artifacts, who Kagome had never seen before. Those particular demons had several nervous looking wolf demons standing nearby as bouncers. There were even several humans selling clothing and mundane forged weapons.

"Takes your breath away, doesn't it," Said a voice behind Kagome. She spun around and flailed, earning Ginta a clock on the nose. "Ginta, I _told_ you two not to sneak up on me!" Ginta sighed, something that Kagome decided mentally she was hearing _entirely_ too often. "Sobby, Kagome" Ginta said through a pinched nose. Hakkaku came up from the shadows beside Kagome, nearly earning his own bloody nose. "If you like, we can show you to Koga now." Kagome nodded, and they started winding their way through the crowd. Hakkaku gave his own impression of a tour guide as they moved across the cavern.

"It's amazing what Koga has done here in the past three years," as Hakkaku began his monologue. "For a while there were less than a dozen of us, but during the Shikon Jewel era, Koga earned a reputation for himself. He found this cave, and slew the serpent demon using it as its lair single handedly. After some house cleaning –"

Ginta grunted, and said "which was _our_ job –"

"We set up a safe haven here for any person who was willing to abide safely and contribute to the wolf demon tribe. Over time, other demon tribes heard about this, and some were willing to follow the rules in return for some safety. It was a dangerous time for demons after the shikon jewel disappeared. We have even reconnected with many other wolf demons that made their way here."

Kagome looked surprised. "So, Koga is like a king now?"

Hakkaku shot a glare at Kagome. "Don't _ever_ let a demon hear you say that, demons do not subjugate themselves like some _human_. He is our leader, nothing more." Kagome wondered how Hakkaku could have such a dislike of humans, yet give her so much respect. Looking around, she also noticed that the humans present were closely guarded by the wolf demons, most likely for their protection more than anything else. Humans were clearly not in favour here.

They came to a central passageway on the far side of the cavern, and followed it till it led to a screen blocking an entrance. There was a single wolf demon in front, most likely a guard. "What do you guys want", the guard said while slouching against the wall. Well, now that she thought about it, demons weren't known for their discipline.

Ginta snorted at the guard, impressively since he was still holding his nose. "None of your business Karu, you know who we are. We can see Koga whenever we like." Karu snorted right back at Ginta. "He's sleeping right now, and you know what mood he's in. Go in and wake him if you like, it's your funeral." He gave a second glance at Kagome, but didn't question her presence.

They walked through, into a spartanly furnished, small cavern. Several cabinets and furnishings were scattered against the walls, and a set of cushions that served as a bed were bundled against the back of the room. Kagome's eyes were immediately drawn to Koga. He was sprawled out in a fairly unimpressive fashion, drool coming down one side of his mouth. _Not the best way to meet again,_ Kagome thought.

As soon as Ginta's stepped inside of the room, Koga was awake. He moved fast, frighteningly fast. Blindingly fast. One second he looked as though he was dead to the world, the next second he had Ginta pinned by the neck against the wall. "Why are you waking me, Ginta!" Koga roared. Kagome thought she heard a satisfied chuckle from the other side of the curtain. Ginta started frantically pointing behind Koga, at Kagome.

Koga looked behind him, and their eyes met. Koga looked poleaxed. He released his grip on Ginta, who edged away from Koga. Kagome could not keep from staring at his eyes. They flickered from blue, to red to blue, pupils dilating and contracting. She could see a torrent of emotions pass through his eyes. She couldn't see what he was thinking, but the intensity of his stare unnerved her. She saw waves of regret, joy, and confusion pass through his eyes. He took a step towards Kagome.

Kagome felt rooted to the ground. She tried to get her head in gear enough to form a sentence. "Uhh.. hi Kog—". That was as far as she got before Koga wrapped her in his arms, pressed her against him, and ferociously kissed her. Kagome's mind blanked, she forgot what she was about to say. She forgot she was even supposed to be indignant. She lost herself in the most passionate kiss she has ever experienced.

She could not say how much time had passed, she had lost all semblance of thought. If Koga was not holding her, she would have collapsed to the ground. They were both brought back to reality by an embarrassed cough from both Ginta and Hakkaku. By the looks on their faces, they had tried discreetly coughing several times before either of them noticed. Koga released Kagome, both of them flushed in the face.

Koga came to his senses. "Um, right, well. I'll go grab Karu and see if we can get you settled, you will probably want a bath. I'll get one of the human women and see if they can wait on you." Kagome was still trying to catch her breath. "We have lots of catching up to do, I thought you were lost to me—" he looked embarrassed for a second, "—Um, I mean, lost to _us_, forever. Get refreshed and we can catch up. I want to know all about how you have gotten here, where you have _been_ since you left." He caught Kagome by the sleeve as she woodenly walked to the door. "And Kagome, welcome back. I missed you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry about the delay (again), time passes so quickly it is easy to let the simple things go.**

Kagome leaned, panting, on the outside of Koga's room. She stared into the distance, trying to regain her bearings. _Where did *that* come from?_ Not that she had never been kissed before. She had just never been… _kissed_… like _that_ before. It left her wanting more. Someone mumbled something about a bed. All she said back was something along the lines of "almost like a dog's tongue".

It was at that point Kagome realized she had been staring point blank at Karu, for a good thirty seconds. He looked extremely unnerved and kept glancing at nearby rocks to break eye contact. Kagome didn't know how to react. _Did he hear me? Oh god, of course he heard me, he has wolf ears! Either those rocks are the most interesting rocks in the world, or he thinks I'm into him. Why am I still staring at him? Stop staring at him!_

Kagome went over and started examining the suddenly interesting rocks with Karu. "Looks… um… like igneous rocks" she said. _I don't even know if that's right. Why did I miss so much Geology!_ Karu glanced at Kagome. "Umm… igne… umm… definitely! Definitely igneous rocks."

"…."

"…."

Kagome coughed, and tried to keep the conversation from grinding to awkward silence.

"So… something about a bed?" Karu gave her a shocked look. Kagome backpedaled quickly. "To sleep in! To sleep in by myself! Alone!"

Karu looked just as uncomfortable as Kagome felt. "Right! Of course. We'll also get a bath set up for you." Karu physically shuddered at that. "Baths. Horrid things. Can't get the smell of dirt back for weeks."

Kagome followed Karu through a maze of corridors. She was so absorbed in trying to melt through the floor in embarrassment, she didn't even look around at the spectacular rock formations and glowing crystals all around them. To keep her mind off the horrible silence, she started looking around and asking about the formations.

"That is an incredible statue, how did someone carve that?"

A female voice to the right of her answered.

"Oh, that's the standard of the wolf tribe. Knowing them, they probably chewed it into shape."

Kagome shrieked and spun around. "When did _you_ arrive" she practically shouted at the diminutive woman standing next to her.

The woman cowered away. "Oh, I'm so sorry, you looked like you had a really important thought. People don't usually notice me even if I'm talking to them."

Kagome instantly felt terrible. The only female human she had talked to in months that wasn't a horrific monster (literally or figuratively), and she shouts at her. "I'm so sorry, I yell at people so much I don't know when to stop. My name's Kagome, what is yours?"

"Airi!" She pipes up. "I'm here to be your guide, get you meals, help you bathe, that sort of thing."

Kagome didn't know what to think of that. "Well first off, the only one bathing me will be me. Also, it's lovely to meet you, I am _so_ out of my element here. Did you know who Inuyasha is? Between him and I, we had _so_ many adventures, but I still don't understand demons at all. He reminds me of a robot sometimes, so brooding and out to prove he has no feelings."

"… Robot?"

"Oh. Ahh, forget I said anything."

Airi just nodded along, looking extremely confused at this clearly insane woman.

"Well… that's nice. Koga seemed really interested in you Kagome, he grabbed me by the hand and practically dragged me here to help you around."

"Well, I'm really interested in him. I mean… I'm interested in him. Umm… he's a good buddy. Friend. Yeah."

Airi hoped the insanity was not contagious.

Kagome suddenly ran into the back of Karu, who had stopped in front of a door. Kagome backed up quickly. "Sorry Karu, I forgot you were there. I mean, I didn't forget about you, you were clearly leading us somewhere. Are we there?" Kagome wondered if she knew any spells that would just get herself to shut up.

Karu just looked resigned to the fact that he would just have to suffer through Kagome's awkward social wrath. _Funny, that looks just like the expressions Ginta and Hakkaku get._ "Yeah, we're here, these are the baths. Enjoy it, I'll leave you with Airi. Unless you want me to stay of course… in the bathro…" He trailed off, realising what he was suggesting. His entire face turned red. "Um… bye!"

Before Kagome could get another word out, he sprinted off with a speed nearly matching Koga. "What a nice young wolf", is all Airi had to put in about Karu. She pulls the door open and marches in, taking off her robe as she does. Kagome yelps and dashes through, closing the door behind her. "Well if you keep doing _that_ without looking, people will start noticing you then!"

Airi laughed and without hesitation dipped herself into a natural spring in the middle of the cavern. She immediately looked back at Kagome, as Kagome looked around for another spring to get in to. There was only one spring in the room. Sighing, Kagome disrobed and settled in near Airi.

Immediately Kagome was in heaven. There was just something about a relaxing, hot spring that could not compare to any other feeling. She laid back against the edge and let her mind drift. Well she tried at least, until Airi decided it was a good time to socialize.

"So, what do you do, if I can ask? I am a merchant's wife, I help my husband manage the smithy here. There aren't many demons who know how to forge a weapon, or even a pot. I had someone the other day come to buy a pot. He came back to tell me that the hammer is less effective with the hollow part and tried to return it! It's a good thing Koga likes the trade and protects us, most customers try to return items pointy end first. It's a good living though, the furs we get sell so well on the trip back."

It took Kagome a moment to realize her fast paced speech was finished, and a moment more to realize she had asked a question at some point during that monologue. "I am a pries… warrior" Kagome replied. _A priestess is probably even less popular around here_. Airi looked genuinely confused. "Why would you come here? Humans are banned from having weapons, my husband and I can only have them because we _make_ them. In fact humans can't even defend themselves, if there is a scuffle, the best a human can hope for is it to be broken up before they get hurt. Apparently expecting justice is considered a weakness."

This was a revelation for Kagome. "And Koga allows that?" Airi still didn't seem to understand. "Koga is better than most, but we are still just humans to them."

Kagome ground her teeth. "_Just_ humans?" She got out and immediately dried off, grabbing her kimono. Airi got out with her. "Where are you going?"

Kagome ignored Airi, muttering about what _just_ a human will do to Koga. Airi just sighed and trailed along behind the clearly insane woman, expecting a spectacle if nothing else.


	9. Chapter 9

**_We wish you happy holidays! Fair warning, this chapter lives up to the "M" rating_**

Kagome stormed into Koga's quarters, giving a sleeping Karu a knock on the head as she went by. Koga had also gone back to sleep, in a similar unflattering position. Koga started awake, but quickly relaxed as soon as he saw who it was. "Hi Kagome, that was a quick bath. Did you find your sleeping area ok?"

"Don't you 'Hi Kagome' me Koga!"

Koga adopted a poleaxed look. "I… but… what… huh?"

"I heard _all_ about how humans are treated in your supposedly perfect kingdom. They are second class citizens here! If you think for a _moment_ I will let you walk all over the entire human race because you are in control here, think again!"

"Kagome, nobody is _forcing_ the humans to stay here. They can go any time they please. I'm not a king, and this is not a kingdom. I can't go around telling every demon they have to play nice for the humans, when they have been attacked by humans at every village they ever go into."

"They get attacked in villages because they kill _villagers!_" Kagome practically shouted.

"So let the humans go, why should I care if they are treated equal?"

"You should care about them because I _thought_ you cared about me!"

"IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE KAGOME" Koga thundered, his eyes blazing a fiery red. "I care about you with every fibre of my being! It would kill me to see you hurt! I can't look after the humans because I rule based on strength, and looking after the humans would make me look weak! I can't even be seen to care about you because of my parents!"

It was Kagome's turn to look poleaxed. "Your parents?"

"Yes, my parents. Or did you think all demons hatched from eggs? For all your talk about treating humans equally, you seem to know very little about demons and tribes. My parents keep this clan together, and they see humans as either play things or weaklings. Even if I was to court you, I couldn't because it would tear the Wolf tribe apart!"

"You… you want to court me?" Kagome murmured.

"Of course I do Kagome! I mean… of course… if you would like…" Koga trailed off, flustered.

Kagome responded by striding across the room and grabbing Koga by the neck, dragging him down to meet her lips. Koga stared into Kagome's eyes, stunned, and then his eyes flared to life. He responded to the kiss heartily, hugging Kagome close and pushing his tongue deep inside Kagome's mouth. Their tongues danced each other, Kagome's eyes flaring with a deep blue intensity to rival Koga's.

Kagome pushed Koga down onto his pallet, Kagome fumbling with Koga's vest as they continued to kiss. Kagome ran her hair through Koga's mane of hair, and caressed down the length of his chest, feeling his abs. On pure instinct, Kagome reached behind Koga and stroked his tail, Koga shuddering with delight at the sensation.

Koga growled, and with a single motion, ripped Kagome's robe down to the waist. He fondled one of Kagome's exposed breasts, while licking the other with his dextrous tongue. He rolled on top of Kagome and continued to fondle her, while making his way with his other hand down Kagome's waist. Kagome shuddered as with a single claw, he shred the rest of her undergarments. Kagome moaned as his hands found her sensitive, slick opening and gently started rubbing it. Kagome grabbed Koga in a hug and felt his toned back, his defined arms, and started stroking his tail.

Koga let out a primal grunt and started to turn Kagome over, but Kagome stopped him. "No, Koga" she said, breathing heavily. "Let me show you how humans mate." She rolled back on top of Koga and pulled his trousers down, exposing his throbbing member. She straddled Koga and lowered herself onto him, letting out a large moan as she felt his member enter her. She started gyrating slowly, one hand still on Koga's tail. Koga started panting heavily, looking up at Kagome like a caged beast waiting to be released.

Kagome started lifting herself off and on Koga, letting his member come completely free before guiding it back in, over and over. Koga started thrusting, matching her rhythm and meeting her half way. Kagome started increased the speed, no longer letting Koga's member go free. She started pumping while holding onto his chest, picking up the pace, letting her moans free as a wild electricity of emotion, of ecstasy and feeling built up within her. Koga grabbed her by the waist, matching her rhythm and clawing her slightly as his demonic side took over. Kagome welcomed the motion, and locked Koga in another kiss as her waist moved up and down. "Yes," Kagome moaned, "Yes, Yes Koga". With a bestial roar, Koga arched his back, and Kagome could feel the warmth shoot up into her. For a few seconds, they didn't move, both panting and slick with sweat, Kagome's head against Koga's chest. Finally Kagome rolled off next to Koga, letting his member go free with a rush of liquid. She lay there, panting, still giving Koga's tail the occasional stroke.

Koga lay there speechless for a while, gathering his bearings, his eyes fading from their fiery red back to a dark blue. After several moments, he tried to gather his breath. "That…" he said between pants, "That was incredible. That was everything I dreamed about and more". Kagome giggled next to Koga. "So you're saying you dreamed about me then." She said, feeling Koga's arm as she curled up next to him. Koga took on a pensive look. "This doesn't fix the problem, you know." He said to Kagome. "We still have to deal with the humans, and my parents."

Kagome trailed her fingers along Koga's chest and abs, feeling their contours as he breathed. "I know. But that can wait. I don't have anywhere to be, do you?" Koga's eyes flash back into red and he growled lustily. "It can wait" he said, and rolled Kagome back on top of him.


	10. Chapter 10

Kagome couldn't remember just how long she spent within Koga's arms, though she heard dozens of people get turned away from Koga's entrance. Time lost all meaning, the day spent cradled next to Koga. She could scarcely believe what had happened. She had _never_ done anything like this, it was as if an animal had taken over her body. And yet, it felt _right_. It was exhilarating, breathtaking, euphoric and _erotic _all at the same time. And on top of it all, she felt an immense feeling of comfort, that nothing would ever go wrong as long as she spent her time lying here with Koga.

That dream quickly shattered though as a heated argument outside the entrance was followed by Karu being bodily flung through the doorway. Following him was a wolf demon who looked as though he was chiselled from stone. He had a tall, unrelenting stature, towering over Koga. His burnished yellow eyes adopted a flinty glare, a permanent look that demanded obedience and did not allow compromise. He strode in, barely giving Kagome a contemptuous glance before bearing down on a still naked Koga.

"I am SICK—" the newcomer yelled, as he booted Karu to the side of the room, and bodily hauled Koga to his feet. He threw Koga against the wall – "OF YOU—" as he drove a resounding blow against Koga's face –"DISRESPECTING OUR FAMILY NAME". He finally threw Koga across the room, where he cracked the stone on impact. Koga groaned and sunk to the floor.

Kagome didn't know how to react, she couldn't even begin to process what was happening here. Who was this newcomer, and why wasn't Koga defending himself? She covered herself with a cloth and sat up. "Just what is go—" she started, before the new wolf demon turned his rage-filled glare on her. "How dare you even THINK about talking to me, you human garbage. If you ever open your whore mouth in my presence without my permission, I will find out everything you hold dear and take it away!"

Until this point, Koga had lay groaning on the floor, fight lost before it even began. On hearing Kagome debased like that, a lit a fire in his eyes. He roared and staggered to his feet, blood streaming from his nose. Before the new wolf could react, Koga threw a punch that sent the new wolf demon flying into what little furniture was in the room, tearing it to splinters. He advanced on the demon, all reason lost. "THAT IS THE WOMAN I LOVE FATHER, AND I WILL DESTROY THIS TRIBE BEFORE ALLOWING YOU TO HARM HER".

That last statement blew through the room like a cold wind, surprising even Koga. The new wolf – _his father? _– had his murderous rage smothered with a smouldering, icy calm. He got up and brushed himself off, visibly gathering composure. His next words were anything but calm though, filling the void of his speaking voice with undertones that promised a world of pain for Koga. "You will see me in my room, in thirty minutes, or you are no longer a member of this tribe." With that ominous message passed, Koga's father strode out of the room, moving past Koga like he wasn't even there.

With Koga's father leaving, a deathly silence filled the destroyed room. Finally, Karu managed to work his way to his feet. Koga jumped, forgetting Karu was even there, and then looked mortified as Karu turned a hurtful and betrayed look on Koga. "You would destroy the tribe, to protect a human girl?"

Koga looked poleaxed. "No, Karu, what I said was in the heat of the moment. You know I would do anything for this tribe." Koga looked at Kagome, and back to Karu. "Almost anything." Karu grimaced, and then clearly brightened up again. "Well, you wouldn't be the first person to say something stupid for a woman. You need to fix this though. If you and your father split, this whole tribe will disintegrate. I know what you said was purely a moment of passion, but losing your father over Kagome _will_ destroy this tribe." Karu blushed, and suddenly looked like the adolescent wolf demon he was. "Also, you both might want to cover up a bit". Karu left the room as both Kagome and Koga scrambled to find clothes within the shattered furniture.

A few minutes later, Koga and Kagome were holding each other on the rug, deciding what to do. "Karu wasn't wrong, Kagome, my father has the loyalty of most of the elders in the tribe. If he decided to throw me out, and I resisted, it would break the tribe in two. Everything I worked for would be for nothing." He coughed, and looked at Kagome. "You know, we could just run away together. If he kicks me out of the tribe, and I just leave, the tribe would stay intact and we could still be together."

Kagome was overwhelmed with the implications of that statement. The amount of love she felt for Koga at that moment was fathomless, that he would be willing to sacrifice so much just to be with her. For one perverted moment, she almost took Koga on that offer, to test his loyalty. That moment quickly passed though, as it horrified her as soon as she thought of it. What kind of woman would purposely break a family in half just because she could?

"No, I would not and could not do such a thing to you. Make you break away from everything you know, love, and worked for, just for me? Part of making a sacrifice is that sacrifice should be mutual. If I forced you to give up everything for me, you would end up resenting me, and I would end up hating myself. I can't base our new relationship on the broken memories of your family."

Kagome, finally dressed, stood up and helped Koga to his feet. "Besides, this situation is still salvageable. Your father seems like a huge jerk" _that's an understatement. _"Speaking of which, he looked barely any older then you do, how old is he?" Koga suddenly looked a bit nervous. "He's… ahh… 168 years old".

Kagome blanched. "Umm… wow. You wolf demons sure age gracefully". Kagome worried about that for a moment. Koga would be in the prime of his life by the time Kagome would be old and grey. Looking into Koga's face, she could tell he was thinking the same thing. Koga put hand under Kagome's chin. "Look, assuming we get to that point, all I can think of is that I wouldn't want to spend my life any other way. _If_ I outlive you, which is a big if, since there are magical artifacts that can extend lifespans." Kagome finished his thought for him. "If you outlive me, I wouldn't want to spend my life any other way then between your arms. We can cross that bridge later on down the track. What is important to me is that we are together now, and we spend the time we have together to the fullest."

With that, Kagome strode out of the doorway. Koga caught up to Kagome, confusion etched on his face. "Hey, wait, where are you going? My father won't tolerate you being there when I meet him". Kagome snickered. "If there is anything I have learned, there is two sides of power to a family, and we have only seen half. You go see your dad, I'm going to go see your mum". Kagome strode ahead, and looking back saw that Koga had stopped. "What is it?" Koga looked at Kagome like she was striding to her death. "Well, you know my father, right? My mother's worse." _Well. That isn't ominous at all._ Kagome took a deep breath, steadied herself, and kept striding out of Koga's sight and apparently to her doom.


	11. Chapter 11

Kagome had made two turns before Koga caught up to her. Koga eyed her warily as he kept pace. "So, you want to see my mother?" Kagome didn't break stride. "Yes, I want to see your mother. You need to go see your father anyway, leave me to do my job. Do you have a problem with that?" Koga stammered slightly at the sound of determination in Kagome's voice. "No, it's just… well… you are walking in the wrong direction".

Kagome stumbled a step and came to a standstill. She pretended to check her watch (which she wasn't wearing, and would be useless in the feudal era), and swung about as if she meant to go that direction the entire time. Koga trailed behind, occasionally nudging her towards the correct passage whenever she looked ready to stride down the wrong direction.

Kagome finally reached what looked like an unremarkable entrance to a living chamber, Koga still trailing behind a step as though he were approaching the gates of Hell. "Well… here we are. I'll try to find you after I am finished with my father." Kagome spun about at that. "You mean your mum and dad don't live together? Are they divorced or something?"

Koga tried to work around the unfamiliar phrase. "dee… vorrrssed?"

"You know, when people are married, and they have a falling out, or one catches the other sleeping around."

Koga looked slightly offended. "First off, wolves don't get _married_. They become mating partners. And second off, with _very _few exceptions, wolves are partners for life. Which is why my father is so furious right now. My parents are together politically, it united two previously fighting clans. They respect each other, but they surely don't love each other." Kagome looked at her feet, seemingly at a loss for words. After a moment, almost too quiet for Koga to hear, she said "I would want to marry you someday."

Koga took a step back, unable to get a grip on the emotions whirling inside of him. He leaned against the wall with a pensive look in his eyes. "I… you… I would like to spend my life with you Kagome. I really do. And the one thing that I will not let happen is allow my father _or_ my mother to tear us apart as if we are two misbehaving children." With that, he strode away towards his father's chambers. As he turned around the corner, he heard Kagome whisper a faint "thank you… Koga".

Kagome took a moment to collect her thoughts. After several deep breaths, she gathered herself and strode through the curtain covering the entranceway. She immediately stopped, looking around a spartanly furnished room. _I see where Koga gets his fashion sense_. Everything in the room looked purely utilitarian, as though there was no personal attachment to the room. Looking around, she saw a beautiful wolf demon sitting on a bench, staring into a fire on the far side of the room. She had her back to Kagome, and looked almost wistful while gazing away from her.

"I didn't send for you yet, whelp". _So much for wistful_. Her voice had a clipped edge to it, as though every word could be used to cut a stone with. She was beautiful, and articulate, and gave the feeling that she did nothing without a purpose to it. Every word was calculated and meant to convey exactly what she was trying to get across.

"I… Uh…" Kagome stammered. The wolf demon took advantage of this. "You… _uh…_ -" she said maliciously "—are the defenceless cub that Koga has decided to shelter, and you are the slattern who might singlehandedly destroy this clan." The wolf demon rose, and turned her piercing gaze on Kagome. "Koga used to do the same thing as a pup, would adopt feral wolf cubs – _Actual_ wolves, our less evolved brethren – and try to raise them." She trailed a claw along the wall as she walked, gouging a shallow indentation with a screech until she stopped in front of Kagome. "After I drowned the first one, I thought he would get the idea. I had hoped that I had beat the sympathy out of him by now." Kagome didn't think that she used the word "beat" metaphorically.

"So here you are, rudely walking into my room, to _demand_ that I do not stand between you and Koga. You humans are so arrogant. Do you really think you have any position to demand _anything _from me?" She strode past Kagome, still trailing a claw with an eerie screech. "Unlike my husband, I don't have any particular hatred of humans. They are adorable in a pathetic kind of way. What I _do_ have a problem with is when one wants to meddle in our affairs." She abruptly stopped, and settled back on the bench. "Even then, I don't necessarily object to one of our tribe mating with a human, if he or she is an _exceptional_ human. It is clear from my first glance that you are common. Ordinary. _Weak_. A waste of my time and effort, and I go to great lengths to make sure my time is valuable." She turned her gaze back to the fire. "We are done here. You can go now".

Kagome stared incredulously at the wolf demon's back, amazed at the shallow and callous dismissal she just received. Amazed with the absolute _conviction_ the woman had thrown in her direction, a certainty in her mind that Kagome was beneath her notice. Kagome waited for something else, some other remark, but none came. As far as Koga's mother was concerned, their interaction was done, and Kagome was not even worth paying attention to. Kagome turned and trudged out of the room, muttering "what a bitch" under her breath as she left.

As Kagome opened the flap, an incredible force hit her from behind, between the shoulder blades, and she was flung over into the wall on the far side of the passage. She hit shoulder first, and with a horrible _pop_, clearly felt her left shoulder dislocate. She rolled to the floor, still too stunned to think clearly, not able to move her left arm at all. Her vision swam in circles. She groaned and tried to sit up, but before she could, Koga's mother kneed her in the stomach, winding her completely. Koga's mother leaned down and placed a single claw at Kagome's forehead.

"I don't believe what I said got through your skull, human. Maybe a claw through your skull would be more effective." She pressed the claw in slightly, and Kagome felt a line of blood trickle down into her eye. "I may not think humans a threat, but I do not tolerate _any_ disrespect. I had hoped you had understood that when I dismissed you. Clearly you are too dense to understand anything but physical pain." She dug the claw in deeper, eliciting a gasp from Kagome.

"How easy you humans forget, our wolf ears are not for _show_. I can hear everything you say from the next passage over. I heard _your entire_ conversation with Koga. If I didn't think the whole idea of you _marrying_ Koga laughable, I would have torn your head off before you entered my room." She added a second claw to Kagome's forehead, drawing a second line of blood. "Now, I could easily kill you, but first I want to hear that respect. I want you to say 'I am sorry, Sairin' – because that is my name, like how civilized people introduce themselves – 'I beg your forgiveness'. Say it".

Kagome stared up through half blinded eyes, straight at Sairin, Koga's mother. "I am sorry, Sairin" she said. "I was wrong. You are a _huge_ bitch". Kagome slapped her good arm against an arcane symbol she had drawn in the dust during Sairin's monologue. Pulsating violet light streamed out of the symbol, filling the room with a blinding radiance and a torrent of wind. Sairin was flung against the roof of the cavern, pinned by a gale that only seemed to affect her alone.

Kagome stood up, still catching her breath. "Well I am glad it's not just supervillains who need to have a speech first." She looked up at a furious Sairin, who seemed to be trying to turn Kagome to dust with her baleful glare. "You called me _weak_. Well I call you pathetic. I took what you said in stride because unlike you, I don't have to constantly put down those around me to feel superior. I know I am strong and I know I am powerful, and I _also_ know that sympathy should not be confused with weakness."

Kagome sneered up at Sairin, one arm still dropping listlessly at her side. "It is clear that uncultured brutes like you and Koga's father only understand physical strength. It is amazing that you managed to raise such a wonderful wolf like Koga, even by accident". She slammed her shoulder against the wall, popping the socket back in. She doubled over, gasping in pain, for a good twenty seconds. "If power is what you want to see, power is what I will show you. I will duel you for Koga's hand, and I will win, and Koga and I will be together despite all the vitriol you show the entire world. Your pride is what you cling to, so decline if you want, if you want this entire clan to know you are afraid to fight a _weak _human girl."

Kagome turned around and started limping away. Sairin roared, "Let me down, human!" Kagome smirked and kept walking. She couldn't resist one last taunt however. As she rounded the corner, she yelled out "We are done here, remember?"


	12. Chapter 12

Koga nervously stepped from side to side outside of his father's quarters. Every couple of minutes, Koga would stop, gesture half-heartedly towards opening the portal boundary, shake his head then resume pacing. It was around the fourth time Koga repeated this gesture that the flap opened violently towards him and his father glared at him from the other side. "You're late, Koga" he grunted.

Koga jumped backwards reflexively and landed against the wall on the other side of the tunnel. "How did you know I was there" Koga half shouted, half squeaked. Koga's father gestured at the ground where Koga was pacing. "You forget the shards in your legs. You were bulldozing a path in front of my quarters. Which you will fix, by the way". There was a half foot indentation tracing out Koga's pacing, carved into the granite floor.

Koga's father turned back into his quarters, with the unquestioning expectation that Koga would follow. Koga sheepishly followed behind his father, alternating between indignant outrage and that sinking feeling when someone knows their emotions lead to unforgiveable outbursts. Koga's father turned around and placed himself in a suspiciously throne-like chair, languishing like a king before his subjects. He does not offer Koga any kind of place to sit, with the room clearly designed to place whoever is confronting the occupant of the throne with unease.

Koga stared at his father, and his father stared back at him, with a seemingly impatient and intimidating glare. Koga grew increasingly uncomfortable, pins and needles forming down his spine and sweat beading on his forehead. Finally, Koga opens his mouth, only to be interrupted by his Father.

"So. You would destroy this tribe to protect a human child." Koga's father chuckled dangerously. "There is a _big_ problem with that. What makes you think, for a _second_, that you are even capable of carrying out your threat? You are the chieftain of this tribe because I _let_ you be the chieftain of this tribe."

Koga indignantly raised his voice at this insult, but as he did, his father's intimidating power swept through the room like an oppressive force of nature. There was no change in the temperature or the wind, but an overwhelming pressure bore down on Koga, feeling as though his life could be snuffed out on a whim. The room seemed darker for the presence. Koga was distinctly reminded that his father was both a capable fighter and far from his twilight years. He had singlehandedly held the wolf tribe together through force of will for decades. Koga honestly did not know if he could best his father in a fair fight.

"Do you, son, understand the first thing about leadership? Why I let you succeed me, why I stepped down knowing fully well that I could continue to lead our pack for many years to come?" He leaned forward, the room seemingly growing darker as he did so. "It is about _perception_. Whether you are capable of leading a tribe is irrelevant. What is important is that people see you as a strong leader. If you cannot provide a steadfast pillar of strength, to allow your tribe to lead on, your authority will crumble and any kind of power you have will crumble with it. I stepped down because I thought you were ready, and I would either have to drive you away or let you lead. So I let you continue our legacy."

Koga's father leaned back, and the menace in the room diminished slightly. "So, since you _clearly_ can't tell where you went wrong today Koga, let me spell it out. You have made two grievous errors that we can't allow to continue. The first is obvious. If you want to be in a position of strength or our pack, you _cannot_ under any circumstances mate with a human. Humans are our subordinates at best, our prey at worst. Wanting to take one as your mate would be a fatal sign of weakness, one that your pack and I personally will not allow."

At this accusation, Koga bristled. "So, I should just have a loveless mating with a woman who both you and I can barely tolerate, is that it dad?" Koga's father's hackles rose with this. "You would not _be here_ if it wasn't for that loveless mating. And _YES!_ Yes, that is exactly what you should do if it ensures the wellbeing of our pack. Which brings me to our next, and bigger problem." With this, Koga physically felt the temperature of the room rise several degrees in response to his father's rage.

"You said, in FRONT of WITNESSES, that you would elevate a weakling human girl above the wellbeing of this entire pack! How _dare_ you put your adolescent lust ahead of everything that I have built up over these years. How _dare_ you so flippantly throw away any credibility that you might have had with this pack, for a human girl! If Karu so much as breathes a whisper of what you said to me in anger, you will be done, finished!" Koga's father leaned forward again, his intimidation, power, and anger coalescing in an almost palpable tremor running through the room. "You do know what you must do Koga. A rumour like this cannot get set free, and Karu will talk. You must silence Karu. Permanently."

At this, Koga violently shook his head, his anger reaching a boiling point, his own power clashing with his father's in a visible quaking, shifting stones in the room and causing the furniture to rumble unsteadily. Both Koga and his father seemed unaffected by this. "Father, I will not under any circumstances kill one of my subordinates to sate your pride! Your pride is your problem, and I will not go out of my way to kill an underling just because you said so!"

The room grew quiet. Koga's father's voice grew eerily, disturbingly calm, with it a foreboding and the feeling a point has been reached past which there was no return. "Very well, son. Hopefully you have enough sense to escape with your life, after I have cast you out of this clan and taken its reins again. I strongly suggest you do not fight this. You have already disappointed me, I would hate to have the guilt of killing my own son on top of that."

Koga and his father shifted, both ready to pounce on each other, both knowing that the other would not back down. It was in their blood, neither of them could conceive of the idea of a shift of power without a fight first. The tension in the room doubled, quadrupled, reached a breaking point held back by each wolf waiting for the other to make the first move. And when the tension felt like it would snap like a taut rubber band, it was suddenly broken by the entranceway flap filled with one of Lady Sairin's attendants.

The attendant, seemingly oblivious to the foreboding tension in the room, gracefully led her way to Koga's father and whispered in his ear. After listening for twenty seconds, Koga heard a grunt from his father, which he thought was an involuntary exclamation of rage. He watched his father start shaking, and it dawned on Koga that his father was laughing. Koga's father started laughing uncontrollably, clutching his chest in his mirth, even going down on one knee to control his amusement.

"Oh, Koga, you wouldn't _believe_ the tale I just heard. It is incredible, I can't believe it, I just can't fathom it. Why, oh why, would you let your precious Kagome go see your mother _by herself?_"

A cold panic gripped Koga, and before the attendant could leave, he grabbed her and shouted, "What did my mother do to Kagome? Did she kill her?" Kagome's father brushed past Koga, knocking the attendant out of his grip and sending the attendant on her way. He continued striding past Koga as he walked towards the exit. "No, nothing like that Koga." He paused. "Well, at least not yet. Oh but it was such a wonderful tale, I have to go see if Sairin was really humiliated like that. By a human! By your human! I take it back Koga, this provides an opportunity for you to save face, possibly. As long as you don't mind your human dying for you. I might not have to wrest the mantle of our pack from your hands just yet". Koga's father continued striding out into the tunnel, again letting a bewildered Koga travel in his footsteps.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: So sorry for the long await I hope you all are not to mad at us for the wait… we will try to do better.. on with the story **

Despite the anxiety Koga felt grip him, he schooled himself to keep his father's pace down the corridor. Having the leader of the pack rush around in a panic can only inspire more panic, and Koga felt he has had enough lessons in leadership for one day. Panic was clearly rife throughout the tunnels already, as attendants seem to be rushing both away and towards a distant screeching sound. The screeching became clearer and more coherent as Koga and his father strode towards Sairin's quarters.

As they rounded the corner, they were treated with a frenzy of motion. Servants desperately tried to extricate a frenzied wolf demon pinned to the roof of the cave in front of her room. Scaffolding had been erected and two servants clung to Sairin, trying to pull her off the roof with little success. None of this was helped by Sairin's increasingly inventive and excruciatingly loud threats of how she would disembowel, flay, and torture any servant too slow to get her down from the ceiling.

Koga's father pierced the cacophony with a commanding "that's ENOUGH. SAIRIN." His voice carried an authority that Koga could only envy, and all activity in the room ceased, all eyes on Koga's father. "Sairin, you are the mother of our clan's leader, you will treat yourself with dignity and respect before you shame yourself any further!"'

Sairin turned her piercing gaze onto Koga's father, and surprisingly, visibly calmed down. "I see my servants informed you about my humiliation, Gentan." Gentan, Koga's father, chuckled. "You know, I get so used to being called 'sir', I wondered if people had forgotten my name". His eyes flickered to a faintly glowing symbol on the west side of the cavern, haloed in a spray of blood. He strode over to it, and without hesitation, gouged a set of lines through the symbol with his claw. Immediately Sairin dropped from the roof, landing surprisingly gracefully in the center of the floor. A small cloud of debris scattered from the epicenter of her landing.

Sairin picked herself up and dusted herself off, the image of dignity slightly marred by the ruined state of her furs. Her eyes glowed a dull fiery orange in fury of what had transpired, her servants visibly fading out of sight to avoid finding themselves a convenient target of ire. Sairin glared around, as though she could achieve vengeance through her gaze around. "Well, it seems like there is a score I need to settle. You didn't happen to see, while walking here, a piece of human filth?!" Her voice rose several octaves at the end of her statement.

Koga remained standing, completely ignored, as Gentan rebuked Sairin. "Sairin, I have heard, you have been Challenged. If you want to salvage the little respect you have, you _must_ answer this challenge through the official channels. You cannot go chasing after this person to salve your childish vendetta." Koga let his father's advice to Sairin wash over him, as he eyed the symbol that Gentan had thoroughly gouged out of the floor. The blood haloed symbol. The blood that trailed along the wall, out of the room, into a nearby corridor. The blood that had Kagome's smell on it.

Without prompt, or care of protocol, Koga sprinted at a blinding speed out of the room. He followed the blood trail along the wall, panic gripping his heart, all idea of keeping up a public face gone from his mind. "Kagome?" "KAGOME?!" He sprinted around another corner, and nearly tackled Kagome as she lay panting against a culvert in the wall. "Oh god, Kagome, what did she do?!"

Kagome favoured Koga with a wan smile, her left arm hanging uselessly, her left leg barely supporting her weight. A trail of blood covered her scalp and tripped down her shoulder, over her arm, still leaving splotches of blood where she held herself against the wall. "Hi Koga, I hope your meeting with your dad went better than mine with your mom". She put a bit of weight onto her left leg, and the leg immediately folded on her. She toppled forward with a gasp, but before she began her fall, Koga crossed the distance and embraced her in a tender hug.

"Kagome, how could you think that provoking my mother would end well for you in any way? What were you _thinking?_" Kagome laughed, and winced, protesting at the grip Koga had on her bad arm. "Koga, maybe stop gripping that arm, it turns out dislocations really _hurt_." Koga immediately stopped hugging her, instead carrying her between his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. Kagome sighed in relief as she no longer held her weight on her leg.

Koga immediately started carrying her towards what served as an infirmary. "What were you _thinking_" Koga repeated, worry for Kagome clearly turning into a grim protectiveness. "I should have known this would happen, I should have known you would get hurt. We can't stay here any longer, my parents have lost all reason. We need to get you out before that challenge father mentioned can happen. We'll get you patched up, and then we will get you out of here, just the two of us."

Kagome listened to Koga's panicked flow of words, letting out another pained chuckle. "Koga. _Koga._". The inflection stopped Koga's planning mid speech. "Koga, if there is a single _thing_ you should have learned from being with me, is that you can't protect me by hiding me away. You can't _drive_ me away. I can see it already, a stupid idea forming in your head to break up with me before I get more hurt. I _know_ you Koga, I know you love me, and your love only wants to see me safe.

"Well here's the thing. You _can't_ keep me safe. I am a priestess. It is my job, and my life, to protect people who can't protect themselves. If you think that keeping me safe would keep us happy, you are living in a delusion. What you _can_ do is help me up when I can't help myself up". Kagome punctuated this by resting her head against Koga's upper arm. "I want you to be there for me, Koga, and I would give my life to live with you. And this starts with winning this duel I shoved myself into".

Koga's thoughts tumbled against each other, fear and protectiveness warring with love and respect for Kagome. For this woman who could keep fighting even when the odds are stacked against her. "Kagome, I—" He stopped as soon as he realized Kagome had drifted off, wounds and weariness overwhelming her. He almost started panicking again, until he realized he could hear her heart. It beat resoundingly strong, signalling that she was not in immediate danger. That she felt safe in Koga's arms.

Koga continued carrying Kagome to the infirmary, voicing his fears, to himself if not his unconscious audience. "Kagome… you don't understand… my mother doesn't fight fair. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, you will die either way." His voice echoed forebodingly in the passageway, to no-one's ears but himself.


End file.
